Messor hellenius

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Messor hellenius
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Stenammini
Genus: Messor
Species: M. hellenius
Binomial name
Messor hellenius
Agosti & Collingwood, 1987

Messor hellenius casent0913186 p 1 high.jpg

Messor hellenius casent0913186 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

This species is known from Greece, the western coast of Anatolia and the European part of Turkey (Salata and Borowiec 2019a, Kiran and Karaman 2020). Borowiec and Salata (2018) suggested that the previous records of Messor capitatus from eastern parts of the Balkan Peninsula concern M. hellenius. In this regard, it is very likely that the data on M. capitatus from the northern Black Sea coast (Markó and Csősz 2002) refer to M. hellenius. Specimens from the vicinity of the Medenbuk and Golyam Dervent villages have intermediate characteristics between Messor mcarthuri and M. hellenius, which may indicate a possible hybridisation between these species (Lapeva-Gjonova & Borowiec, 2022). It is common in mainland Greece, rare on islands but known from all provinces except Ionian Islands, and is thermophilous, occurring in areas with mediterranean shrubs and pastures with limestone rocks (Borowiec & Salata, 2021).

Identification

Distribution

Known from almost all Greek provinces except the Ionian Islands, common in mainland, rare on islands (Borowiec et al., 2022).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 41.63633° to 37°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Greece (type locality), Türkiye.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • hellenius. Messor hellenius Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 54.
    • Type-material: 1 syntype worker, 4 syntype queens.
    • Type-locality: Greece: Gulf of Corinth, Itea (Provatelle).
    • Type-depositories: MNHN, NHMB.
    • [First available use of Messor barbarus st. varrialei var. hellenis Santschi, 1926f: 290 (w.q.) GREECE; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
    • [Note: Santschi, 1926f: 286 (in list) spells the name as hellenius, but in the taxon caption (p. 290) it is spelled as hellenis. Misspelled as helensis by Baroni Urbani, 1971c: 66.]
    • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Finzi, 1928c: 788; Finzi, 1939c: 154; Baroni Urbani, 1971c: 66.
    • Status as species: Bolton, 1995b: 254; Legakis, 2011: 10; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 514; Borowiec, L. 2014: 106; Lebas, et al. 2016: 298; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2018: 6; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 46; Salata & Borowiec, 2019a: 66; Kiran & Karaman, 2020: 307.
    • Distribution: Greece, Turkey.

Type Material

Salata & Borowiec (2019): syntype (w.): v. hellenius | Santschi || [red label] || type || Messor | structor Lat. | varrialei Em || MUSEUM PARIS | SALONIQUE | D’RIVET 1918 || NOVEMBRE || Sammlung | Dr. F. Santschi | Kairouan || ANTWEB | CASENT0913186 (NHMB).

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
  • Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
  • Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2017. Ants of the Peloponnese, Greece (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Polish Journal of Entomology 86: 193-236.
  • Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2018. Notes on ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Samos Island, Greece. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-13.
  • Bracko G., K. Kiran, C. Karaman, S. Salata, and L. Borowiec. 2016. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Greek Thrace. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7945. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e7945
  • Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
  • Salata S., L. Borowiec, and A.Trichas. 2018. Taxonomic Revision of the Cretan Fauna of the Genus Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with Notes on the Endemism of Ant Fauna of Crete. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 68(4): 769-808.
  • Salata S., and L Borowiec. 2017. Species of Tetramorium semilaeve complex from Balkans and western Turkey, with description of two new species of (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 62:279–313.
  • Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2018. Taxonomic and faunistic notes on Greek ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-51.
  • Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2019. Preliminary contributions toward a revision of Greek Messor Forel, 1890 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Turkish Journal of Zoology 43: 52-67.
  • Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2019. Preliminary division of not socially parasitic Greek Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) with a description of three new species. ZooKeys 877: 81-131.
  • Santschi F. 1926. Travaux scientifiques de l'Armée d'Orient (1916-1918). Fourmis. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 32: 286-293.
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